


the more i get of you, the stranger it feels

by savanting



Series: The Phantoms' Songbook [2]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: ALL THE FLUFF, Crushes, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Holding Hands, M/M, One Shot, One Shot Collection, Romance, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:01:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26981812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/savanting/pseuds/savanting
Summary: What does it mean for one ghost to love another ghost? Alex doesn't know, but he wants to find out. One-Shot.
Relationships: Alex & Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Series: The Phantoms' Songbook [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1925812
Comments: 14
Kudos: 243





	the more i get of you, the stranger it feels

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own anything involved with _Julie and the Phantoms_ , but I do so enjoy my little interludes with the characters and their potential stories.
> 
> The title comes lyrics in the song “Kiss from a Rose” by Seal.

Alex would have said he was the most sentimental of the Sunset Curve band members – he was the only one who had collected ticket stubs of their performances at various small venues, he was the one who had taken Polaroids of the band at each milestone – but that part of his personality seemed to make him ache the most for a life once lived.

Touch alone was a thing he missed terribly: he missed the softness of blankets on a cold night, he missed the feel of the wind and falling leaves and even the pavement below his feet, he even missed the weight of clothes and the sensation of certain fabrics against skin.

And, not that he would ever tell anyone, he regretted that he had never experienced his first kiss.

Alex would lose a _lot_ of street cred with his bandmates if that little secret ever circulated around. It wasn’t that there hadn’t been the opportunity – Sunset Curve had had male groupies as well as female ones – but it had never felt right, no matter how cute the guy had been or how inviting the smile. Kissing was easy; feeling something from it was another matter entirely – at least to Alex.

“You’re doing that thing again,” Willie said, his voice breaking through Alex’s guard as they sat on a bench in a park removed from the bustle of the city streets which they usually roamed.

Alex snapped to attention and hoped the look he offered was apologetic. “What do you mean?”

“Getting all caught up in that head of yours,” Willie said, an easy grin on his face while staring straight at Alex. “What’s on Alex’s Trouble Agenda today?”

Alex rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “It wasn’t really anything—”

“Don’t give me that, Alex,” Willie said – and this time there was a hint of sharpness to the other ghost’s voice. “You can tell me anything. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

 _Friends._ A dreaded word, these days, ever since Reggie had clued Alex in on a 21st-century term called “the friendzone.” While Reggie had mumbled that made sense – too many girls had told him he was a “good friend” while he had been alive – Alex had worried over the term because it seemed exactly the kind of predicament he found himself in now with Willie.

 _Friends._ Sure, it was nice to have a guy friend outside the band, but Alex was sure it wasn’t exactly a good thing to want to _kiss_ your guy friend who seemed blissfully unaware of such wants or intentions.

Besides, was it even possible for a ghost to kiss? Even if he was kissing _another_ ghost?

“Alex,” Willie said, his voice holding a warning that broke through Alex’s streaming thoughts again.

“Yeah,” Alex said, trying to keep his voice as steady as possible. “Yeah, we’re friends. Definitely.”

“You sure aren’t _acting_ like it,” Willie said. Then Willie sighed and shook his head, tossling his long brown hair. “I mean, I get it, you have a lot on your mind. You still want to figure out what your unfinished business is. Is that what’s bothering you?”

It would have been so easy just to say yes. Just to lie and say, yes, that was exactly it.

Willie would understand that, he would try to give advice, they would laugh and move on and never broach the subject that Alex imagined would have made his heart clench in pain if he were still alive.

Alex broke his eyes away from Willie’s expectant gaze and sighed in frustration as he looked up at the darkening sky. “I miss being alive,” he admitted to the clouds above his head. That wasn’t exactly the whole truth, but it was close enough. It was close enough to be safe, at least.

Willie didn’t answer right away. “Yeah,” he finally said, his voice soft. “I get that. I really do.”

“What do you miss most?” Alex asked, his eyes still skyward because he couldn’t trust himself to look at Willie right then. If Willie had betrayed any hint of sadness or pain that warranted comfort, Alex would have pulled him into his arms. And that would bring with it a whole new slew of questions he wasn’t ready to answer.

Willie huffed out a sigh. “My mom’s cooking,” he said at last. “Family barbecues. My little sister’s laugh. Small things. Things that didn’t matter enough to me while I was alive.”

This time, Alex did glance at Willie, whose gaze traced the dirt beneath his ghostly feet. “Makes you wish you could give up anything to have it back, doesn’t it?”

Willie didn’t look up but just nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “I would have lived a hell of a lot more if I had known – if I had known it would end so soon.”

Watching Willie, Alex felt like he was being drawn forward by some allure – or a magnetic field pulling him towards the other ghost. While it should have been easier to lie earlier and grasp at a simpler subject, it was far too easy for Alex to lay his hand on Willie’s.

But Willie didn’t startle or move away, as other boys might have in another life. His gaze just fell on their hands, Alex’s atop Willie’s, as if it were as natural as breathing had once been.

A small smile tugged at Willie’s lips before he flipped his hand to grasp Alex’s, fingers tangling as if they _were_ still alive, flesh instead of spirit.

 _Okay,_ Alex thought. _Okay. Wow. This is…_

His thoughts felt as tangled as his fingers were at that very moment.

Alex swallowed, feeling far too unsteady despite the fact that he was a _ghost_ (and a sitting ghost at that), while Willie raised an eyebrow at him. “Is there a problem, Alex?”

Alex usually had an answer for everything, but this moment? Nope. Nothing.

It was like a bad soap opera or something.

“No,” Alex finally managed, thankful that his voice didn’t squeak or crack at that moment. “No problem.”

“Good,” Willie said, his easy grin coming back to his face. “Because you had me a bit worried there, with that deer-in-the-headlights look.”

Alex just shook his head, an incredulous laugh bubbling out of his mouth. “You’re something else.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Willie said, squeezing Alex’s hand while the words fell from his mouth.

Alex had hope that hand-holding was at least a few steps _past_ that invisible line called the friendzone.

But all he could say in the moment was, “It’s a compliment. Definitely a compliment.”

Words may have failed Alex at that moment, but holding hands with the ghost of his dreams – well, there was nothing else quite like it.

And that was enough. For now.


End file.
